Prejudice/Keywords/Definitions

  • Aversive racism is simultaneously holding egalitarian values and negative feelings toward minorities.
  • Categorisation is the natural tendency of humans to sort objects into groups.
  • Confirmation bias is the tendency to focus more on evidence that supports one’s expectations than on evidence that contradicts them.
  • Contact hypothesis is regular interaction between members of different groups reduces prejudice, providing that is occurs under favourable conditions.
  • Discontinuity effect occurs when groups are more extreme, and often more hostile, than individuals.
  • Discrimination is unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to which they belong.
  • Ingroup favouritism is preferential treatment of, or more favorable attitudes toward, people in one’s own group.
  • Ingroup members are people who belong to the same group or category as we do.
  • Minimal group effect occurs when people show favoritism toward ingroup members even when group membership is arbitrary or randomly determined.
  • Outgroup homogeneity bias is the assumption that outgroup members are more similar to one another than ingroup members are to one another.
  • Outgroup members are people who belong to a different group or category than we do.
  • Prejudice is a negative feeling toward an individual based solely on his or her membership in a particular group.
  • Racism is prejudiced attitudes toward a particular race.
  • Realistic conflict theory occurs when competition over scarce resources leads to intergroup hostility and conflict.
  • Salience is being obvious or standing out.
  • Scapegoat theory is blaming problems and misfortunes on outgroups contributes to negative attitudes toward these groups.
  • Self-defeating prophecy is a prediction that ensures, by the behaviour it generates, that it will not come true.
  • Self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that ensures, by the behaviour it generates, that it will come true.
  • Self-serving bias is the tendency for people to take credit for success but refuse to blame for problems and failures.
  • Social categorisation is the process of sorting people into groups on the basis of characteristics they have in common.
  • Stereotype threat is the fear that one might confirm the stereotypes that others hold.
  • Stereotypes are beliefs that associate groups of people with certain traits.
  • Stigma by association is the rejection of those who associate with stigmatised others.
  • Stigmas are characteristics of individuals that are considered socially unacceptable (e.g. being overweight, mentally ill, sick, poor, or physically scarred).
  • Subtypes are categories that people use for individuals who do not fit a general stereotype.
  • Superordinate goals are goals that can be achieved only by cooperating and working with others.

See also

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